Why it's game, set and match for Wimbledon

Rates of rental decline slow

Traditional offices still have an important role to play, although the hybrid working model continues to proliferate across multiple industries.

While the pandemic has calmed down significantly, the prolonged lukewarm market sentiment has continued to impact office rents and vacancy in the central five wards (C5W).
Average Grade A office market rents in the C5W fell 2.0% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 7.6% year-on-year (YoY), and now stand at JPY33,681 per tsubo per month.
The average Grade A office vacancy rate in the C5W increased by 0.3 percentage points (ppts) QoQ and 1.8ppts YoY to 2.8% in Q4/2021.
Average large-scale Grade B office rents declined to JPY25,532 per tsubo per month – a contraction of 2.2% QoQ and 8.4% YoY.
The average vacancy rate in the Grade B market loosened 0.3ppts QoQ and 1.9ppts YoY to 3.6%.
With the pandemic in a manageable state and high vaccination rates, companies are considering gradually increasing office attendance while maintaining some level of remote work.
Tenant preferences for easily accessible, larger, and newer offices persist, and some companies are changing their office layouts to support a hybrid working model.

The office remains an important part of the work environment, and newer offices in good locations are still highly sought after. While the hybrid working model has proliferated across multiple industries, most companies intend to gradually increase their in-office attendance as long as the state of the pandemic stays manageable.
Savills Research & Consultancy